A couple of days after the wedding, Dan suggested we visit both of my grandmothers. I had asked my florist to set aside one white rose from my bouquet to bring to my grandmother's grave. She passed away last August and still I think about her and miss her every day. She was an amazing role model, a strong, independent woman who's family was the centre of her life. She would always slip a Coffee Crisp bar into your pocket on the way out the door, and always made me a homemade (hand ground) walnut cake each year for my birthday and Christmas. Some of my most prized possessions are baking pans and the flour sifter from her kitchen. I call her my baking angel, her photo smiles down on me from my fridge every time I cook dinner or bake a treat.
It made me so happy that I was able to tell her about Dan and I getting engaged before she passed away, but I definitely missed her the day of the wedding. I carried a locket on my bouquet with her photo and my other grandmother's photo in it so they would both be with me on our wedding day.
My other grandmother has Alzheimers and we decided ultimately it would be too confusing and the location was too far away for her to attend. We made a donation to the Alzheimer Society of Toronto in her honour.
When Dan and I had recovered from the aftermath, we decided it was time to pay our respects to both grandmothers. I printed off a load of photos and Dan had the brilliant idea to dress up again in our wedding regalia and hit the road! Need I say more about why I love this man, how sweet is he?! First we visited my grandmother's nursing home. I called my grandfather to tell him we'd be visiting so that was not a day for a drive in the country! We walked in and the whole place lit up. The staff nearly lost their minds taking photos, congratulating us, and of course my grandmother just loved all the attention. She told me a hundred times she loved my wedding gown and how lucky we were to have each other. It was very sweet. She really enjoyed seeing the photos of the wedding and recognized my mom (her daughter) and my grandfather. I was so happy to see her smiling and enjoying herself. My grandfather was over the moon about the surprise as well. Dan looked so handsome in his suit and I could tell how happy he was to see my grandparents enjoying themselves. We brought my grandmother one of our floral centrepieces which she really loved. I told her if she couldn't come to the wedding we would bring the wedding to her! It made me think there should be a program set up where people dressed up as brides and grooms visit nursing homes. The look on the residents faces was just amazing, they loved seeing us! I'm so happy we were able to be the highlight of so many people's day, not just my grandma. It was a terrific side effect!
After our visit there, we stopped by my other grandmother's grave site where I laid the rose for her and left a photo from the wedding. It was really hard but I was so glad we went and I know she would have loved seeing us all dressed up! I'd like to think I made both my grandmothers very happy and proud on that day.
No comments:
Post a Comment